Asian Hockey Needs Aggression to Counter Europeans: Zaman

KARACHI, 10 August 2003 — Pakistan coach Tahir Zaman yesterday called on Asian teams to play more aggressively to counter Europeans in field hockey.

“Field hockey’s main attraction is the flair and skill of Asians but since the face of the sport has changed, Asian teams need to adopt aggression to counter the Europeans,” Zaman told AFP on the eve of his team’s departure for the Netherlands today where they will compete in the Champions Trophy.

The elite six-team event is slated for Amsterdam between Aug. 16-24 with Asian representatives Pakistan and India taking on the Dutch Olympic champions, world champions Germany, Australia and Argentina.

India and Pakistan — once considered giants of international hockey with 11 Olympic titles and five world titles between them — find themselves out of the top three and are engaged in a quest to regain lost glory.

“It’s heartening that India is coming up after being out of the top six fold but they too have adopted aggression in their style,” said Zaman, two-time Olympian and a member of Pakistan’s 1994 World Cup champions side.

India won back to back tournaments in Sydney, Perth and Hamburg in the past two months to forge a potential threat to the western teams.

Zaman said field hockey has changed a lot in the recent years.

“Europe has taken techniques from basketball and football, with the high speed ball circulation and electronic softwares used in coaching, demands in field hockey have changed,” said Zaman, who is now an FIH (International Hockey Federation) grade one coach.

“Asia needs to introduce a new style to hockey because our people follow a sport only because of results and if results don’t come, interests will wane,” he said.

Pakistan, who last won an Olympic title in 1986, fared miserably in last year’s Asian Games finishing fourth, their worst position. Pakistan heavily relies on penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas. “Through Abbas we have the edge and can match the Europeans’ aggression in penalty corners and if we manage two filed goals then we can win the Champions Trophy,” he said.